Future Research

Background: Throughout Ohio, non-point source pollution (NPSP) of water resources is a priority concern for many local communities trying to provide adequate drinking water supplies and recreational opportunities for increasing populations.

One area that has received inadequate attention in traditional non-point source programs is the role of instream processes, such as fluvial erosion and mass wasting of stream beds and banks, as sources of sediment -- a leading cause of NPSP related impairments in Ohio. In the past several decades, studies have shown that stream systems can be a significant source of sediment. In fact, several studies suggest that sediment and sediment-bound pollutants from unstable streams may constitute a vast majority (>80%) of the total NPSP load. In areas where a majority of the sediment is derived from instream sources, conservation practices applied only to the landscape may be an ineffective and costly means to mitigate NPSP.

In Ohio, current methods to assess NPSP processes and have little to no capability to account for instream sources of sediment. This gap could potentially be bridged by developing the datasets and expertise to use the CONservation Channel Evolution and Pollutant Transport System (CONCEPTS) computer model. This model is developed and supported by the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service and has been used for sediment Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL’s) evaluations, to assess stream restoration project designs, and to predict channel evolution following dam removal.

Currently, this model has not been applied in Ohio, but can be a valuable tool for resource management and planning agencies within the state. Generating the input datasets required to run the model and then model simulations can provide insight into how common land use decisions and management scenarios could affect instream processes in natural, modified, and constructed stream systems in Ohio.

Data Collection: Data to run the CONCEPTS model can be collected using:

Submerged Jet Test Device

Apparatus, test procedures, and analytical methods to measure soil erodibility in situ
G. J. Hanson, K. R. Cook. 2004. Applied Engineering in Agriculture Vol. 20(4): 455−462. American Society of Agricultural Engineers ISSN 0883−8542

Erodibility of cohesive streambeds in the loess area of the midwestern US.
G. J. Hanson, A. Simon. 2001. Hydrol. Process. 15: 23–38.

Methods for determining streambank critical shear stress and soil erodibility implications for erosion rate predictions
L. A. Clark, T. M. Wynn. 2007. Transactions of the ASABE Vol. 50(1): 95−106. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers ISSN 0001−2351

Iowa Borehole Shear Test (BST) Device

Apparatus for testing in situ borehole testing, U.S. Patent.
Inventor : R. L. Handy

Borehole shear test in geotechnical investigations.
Lutenegger, A. J., G. R. Hallberg. 1981. in Laboratory Shear Strength of Soil, ASTM STP 740, R. N. Yong and F. C. Townsend, Eds., American Society of Testing and Materials, pp. 566-578.